Arbitration Blog

1. Introduction Arbitration has been a prevalent method of dispute settlement, in various countries of the world of today and yesterday. Arbitration is defined in the Black’s Law Dictionary as “a method of dispute resolution involving one or more neutral third party who is usually agreed to by the disputing parties and whose decision is binding.” Today, with what seems to be the increasing complexity of international arbitration proceedings, and concomitant concern on the part of users as to the efficiency of arbitration as a…

An interesting article, published on Jimma University Journal of Law, entitled “the immediate appealability of a court order against arbitration: it should be allowed and even made compulsory”, argues that an immediate appeal against a court order which is against arbitration must be allowed; article 320/3/ of the Civil Procedure Code should be amended to take the special nature of arbitration into account. This post counter argues the thesis forwarded by Mr. Berhanu Beyene, the author of the article cited above: there lies no reason…

In 1996 the case between Arab Republic of Egypt v Chromalloy Aero services brought a new debate to the international arbitration world. Chromalloy Aero services (“Chromalloy”), an American corporation, entered into a military procurement contract with the Air Force of the Arab Republic of Egypt (“Egypt”) to provide parts, maintenance, and repair for helicopters. A dispute arose and Chromalloy commenced arbitration proceedings on the basis of the arbitration clause in the contract. An arbitral tribunal found for Chromalloy. Egypt filed an appeal with the Cairo…

Introduction Arbitration is crafted in a way that can satisfy parties’ interest from the beginning until final award is rendered. In each step, decisions rendered by arbitrators may potentially affect the interest of adversarial parties. Any one closely following the evolvement of international commercial arbitration will not be surprised to see interim measures of protection become a centre of debate. From the publication of scholarly articles until the amendment of UNICTRAL model law, the international arbitration community is making various efforts to adopt uniform application…

What would you answer if you are confronted with a question: is appeal a fundamental right? Would you say yes, no or neither? I think the argument leans towards yes, does not it? Art 20(6) of the constitution affirms the right of any person to “appeal to the competent court against an order”; yet, I do not aim to discuss appeal in courts, but its general perception in arbitration. Before any arbitration proceeding is underway, it presupposes a valid dispute settlement clause. In the book…

I say 1958 was a year the international arbitration world took a remarkable move. The UN and other parties interested in international arbitration embarked an international convention to recognize and enforce foreign arbitral awards. The convention was signed in New York, The New York Convention to Recognize and Enforce Foreign Arbitral Awards (NYC), and it became the most popular convention in the whole wide world. The major trading nations, those that appear to be antagonistic have signed it without any kind of reservation. Thus far,…

It will be unwise to begin the essay without introducing the reader about injunction in Ethiopian Civil Procedure Code (CPC). Injunction is one form of provisional measure ordered by a competent judicial organ to the requesting party. Robert Allen Sedler, a famous author on Ethiopian civil procedure, says that it may be necessary to make provision for the protection of the parties and the maintenance of the property in dispute pending the final determination of the case. The court is vested with exclusive power to…

Parties’ freedom to agree on any matter extends to agree to resolve their dispute either judicial litigation or arbitration. Arbitration is a system of dispute settlement where by disputants takes their case before arbitrators of their own choice. The civil code defines it “as a contract whereby the parties to a dispute entrust its solution to a third party, the arbitrator, who undertakes to settle the dispute in accordance with the principles of law.” (Art 3325(1)). As any kind of consensual undertaking, the arbitral submission…

A principal-agent relationship is like a tripartite contract where the agent enters into any legal transaction on behalf of the principal. Art 2199 of the Civil Code defines agency as “a contract whereby a person, the agent, agrees with another person, the principal, to represent him and perform on his behalf one or several legally binding acts.” Such an authority can be conferred by court or by agreement of the parties. If it is given by agreement of the parties, it can be either implied…

Dispute settlement modalities, other than judicial litigation, were known even before the era of codification. They were continuously practiced as a traditional form of settling grievances. It had different names, like shimgelina, giligil. Irrespective of the nomenclature, each of these institutions sought to reach at amicable solution between the disputants. The growing interdependence of intra and interstate trade in Ethiopia, the need to modernize the legal system demanded an institutionalized dispute settlement method. People were already aware that the judiciary is entrusted in resolving disputes,…

The case between Salini Costruttori S.p.A v. AAWSA, ICC Case 10623, is very interesting. What makes the case appealing is Ethiopian Supreme Court’s interference in the proceeding and the consequent explanation given by the arbitrator tribunal. By the application of AAWSA, the Ethiopian party, a respondent in the case, the Ethiopian court was apparently convinced that the international arbitral panel is partial; hence, the court ordered to the tribunal to cease the proceeding. After receiving the injunction, the arbitration tribunal said that the primary duty…